1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tillage tools, and more particularly, to a stubble mulch sweep which can be effectively employed in stubble mulching in situations where a long service life sweep is desirable.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Stubble mulch sweeps characterized in having a pair of divergent wings joined at a central axis and having a piercing point at the leading end thereof have long been used in agriculture. Various ways of constructing these sweeps have been utilized, but present construction, so far as is known, calls for joining the two divergent wing plates along a central axis by welding.
In earlier years, the Minneapolis Moline Company provided a rigid central anchor piece which was provided with slots on either side of the center line, and these slots accommodated inter-fitting wings which were pressed into the slots. The wings themselves were bolted to the frog of the plow, and this held the central casting into which the wings were inserted in position. This construction was not totally satisfactory for the reason that over extended periods of use, the slotted interfitment ultimately became loosened, and certain areas would wear away in the case of use in rocky soils relatively quickly and cause the sweep to become ineffective and damaged beyond further usage.
Several years prior to the present time, Calkins Manufacturing Company manufactured a three-piece sweep structure with a separate central piece which tapered to a large point at the leading end. Both the point of the central piece and the wings bolted to the frog of the plow.
Efforts at providing a three-piece sweep have been discontinued in favor of the described present construction where the wings are rigidly connected to each other by welding along a central axis at the point of convergence of the wings.